Our European Adventure: The city of lights

Swiss schools have a week in February for “Ski Break" (similar to Spring Break, but in ski season so everyone can go skiing instead of to the beach). As we had a ski vacation at Christmas and Adam & Charlotte had skied every weekend since, I did not feel we needed more time on the slopes.

Side note from Adam: Disagree.

Anyhow, I convinced everyone that we would take a trip to Paris instead.

Adam & I have been a few times before. We’ve seen the highlights, but I wanted the girls to experience it and Charlotte took an art elective at school this year and had been talking about the Mona Lisa for awhile so we thought maybe she could see it in person.

We took the TGV train from Zurich to Paris on Friday afternoon. At one point I looked up and the screen in front of me said we were going 299km/hr (185mph). Meanwhile, my family played Go Fish! and Adam had a video conference call for work. I hope someday my kids realize how cool this was.

Upon arriving in Paris, we located our Airbnb and discovered a gem down the street…

Its been a hot minute since any of us have had fast food or Mexican, so dinner plans were quickly made.

Saturday morning was looking like the best weather day so we tried to pack in as much outdoor activity as we could. We started with La tour Eiffel.

We didn’t pre-book tickets which EVERY guide book I read said is now a must do as they have very few ‘day of’ tickets that they sell anymore. So we took a chance and got there early and hoped that we could go to the top.

Thankfully all our finger & toe crossing worked!

Up the elevator we went!

We got a little less sure we liked it the higher we went.

But by the time we got to the top we were having a good time.

And by the time we got back to ground level, we had declared it the coolest elevator ride ever.

We walked from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe. Trying to explain Napoleon and celebration of victories during the French Revolution was a bit more of a history lesson than I was prepared to give a 3 & 6 year old, so we went with they were ‘celebrating winning’. That seemed to satisfy everyone as to why there was a large structure in the middle of a roundabout.

To appease tiny humans who had walked a lot, there was also the required ice cream stop.

Everyone slept well at the end of the night!

The next day started with breakfast in our apartment. Apparently when in Paris you get your morning milk from a wine glass … we're so fancy!

Off we went to Musee d‘Orsay, one of Adam’s favorite art museums known for a large Van Gogh collection. When we were there in 2011, there was a strict no photos policy. This must have been relaxed sometime in the last 13 years as everyone was clicking away so we joined in.

It has to be one of the prettiest interiors of an art gallery out there

Studying the streets of Paris in mural form

If only Degas could see the dancer he inspired

We then headed over to Sainte Chapelle. We had not visited it in any of our earlier trips to Paris. It was the royal chapel for the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century. Somehow it survived the French Revolution and though it was heavily restored in the 19th century, it has one of the most extensive 13th century stained glass collections in the world.

The upper chapel is where most of the magic and glitter glass can be found. It is reached only by super narrow spiral stairways in the towers from lower level. The most striking features are the walls, which appear to be almost entirely made of stained glass; a total of 7,200 sq ft of glass, not counting the rose window at the west end. This was a clever illusion created by the master builder; each vertical support of the windows is composed of seven slender columns, which disguise their full thickness. In addition, the walls and windows are braced on the exterior by two belts of iron chain, one at the mid-level of the bays and the other at the top of the lancets; these are hidden behind the bars holding the stained glass. Additional metal supports are hidden under the eaves of the roof to brace the windows against the wind or other stress. Furthermore, the windows of the nave are slightly higher than the windows in the apse, making the chapel appear longer than it actually is.

We may not be able to take any more culture...

We rounded out the day by walking around Notre Dame. The restoration work from the 2019 fire is still ongoing (maybe finished by December of this year???), so we could only see the outside. Its grandeur still impresses me each time I see it.

There were various signs around the structure describing the reconstruction efforts.

1,050 sq ft of new stone required for the reconstruction of the walls + 441,000 sq ft of existing stone cleaned and restored
2000 oak trees to reconstruct the wooden framework
32,300 sq ft of stained glass cleaned or restored
40,000 scaffolding pieces used, weighing 200 tons
150 firms and art workshops involved in the restoration with over 1,000 artisans

Maybe we’ll get one more trip in to see it once it’s complete.

Our final morning we saved for the Louvre. But first, breakfast…

Once inside, we figured we didn’t have time to leisurely stroll and look at art, so we hit the highlights… Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Marriage at Cana, and Napoleon’s Coronation & anything by Adam’s favorite artist, Rubens